One Week In / Eyes Wide Open

Ma Dwo (mah-JO) - Good Evening,

Well friends, I don't even know where to start. Me pe Ghana! I LOVE it. I may be seeing the wold through the rose-tinted specs of the "honeymoon stage" of culture shock, but I am really positively wowed by this place.

Because my time is limited I want to fit in the really important things: the misconceptions I (and I'm sure many of us Canadians held before I arrived here.

-I was under the impression that HIV/AIDS was rampant in Ghana. I had heard people through around "statistics" saying up to 70% of the population lived with HIV/AIDS. In fact only 3.4% of the population has HIV/AIDS.
-I have seen far fewer mosquitoes here than back home.
-I have only come across one beggar.
-English is surprisingly scarce. Although many people do speak it, the level of fluency is similar to an anglo-Canadian's "mastery" of French.
-The level of respect is much higher here. Especially in terms of age.
-Most everyone I meet is EXTREMELY friendly compaired to Canadians. As I walk down the street people will call out asking how you are, and will genuinely get to know you a bit. Even street vendors that I have met once have remembered me by name, and where I'm from down to the city. If I try to speak Twi (chwee), a language that I have already come to love, they laugh and clap and help me along.
-They DON'T use their left hand for the toilet, it is merely the hand that most Ghanaians use to hold the toilet paper.
-I prefer bucket showers to "regular" showers.
-I have not (yet) used one "non-western" toilet - and that's not for lack of trying!
-I have honestly not had one meal (yet) that I haven't enjoyed more than average (and usually effusively).
-Chocolate (for which Ghana is known) is actually relatively expensive and somewhat hard to come by (but "pebbles" like peanut m&m's, but bigger and with better chocolate) are wonderful and cheap.
-The produce is mind-blowing. Even by B.C. standards. The fruit (all kinds are available, but most commonly pine-apple, coconuts, papaya) is naturally sweet and mouth-wateringly refreshing and D-lish.
-The colours of Ghana's flag (green=forests, yellow=mineral wealth, black=overcoming slavery) are shared by Jamaica's flag. This is suspiciously coincidental as the vast majority of Ghanaians adore reggae, and Bob Marley is something of a cultural idol. Reggae is played in shops (rather than "easy listening") which is really refreshing and at a Reggae night I attended last night at La Badi Beach I met a few full-blown Rastafarians ("Ja Bless!")

There we go.

I am a little hesitant to just write everything I am doing and experiencing here because many things will require additional explanation or background info, which I haven't the time to write here. I will, however, fill you in by saying that it is with mixed emotions that I near the end of my orientation week with the other volunteers here in La Badi, Accra. On the one hand I am excited to get to my placement (with the homestay family and at the clinic) in Swedro (two hours east of Accra) and take in a new community that is even more "traditional" than Accra. At the same time though, I have really bonded with the ten other volunteers (mostly from Canada, one from Australia, one from Sweden), and have come to love our neighborhood, and the local neighbors. We have spent the week learning about and immersing ourselves in the culture of Accra. We have had lessons in cultural do's and don'ts (I've had a definite don't by yelling "testicle" (eneshwee) in a restaurant, while trying to say "no problem" (eneshway). There are four phrases that are just "don'ts" waiting to happen: "me bow" (I'll beat you), "m'abo" (I'm drunk), "me buwo (I respect you), "me boa" (I'm lying). I suppose falling in an uncovered sewer (don't worry not hurt, not even my pride as it provided great entertainment for the children I was making paper aeroplanes with) could be considered a "cultural don't". But I think that's more of a global "don't".

That has sort of been the point of this past week of orientation, and also, sort of, this post. We have been breaking down our western stereotypes and ideologies and realizing that the majority of the world does not do things the way we do in Victoria. I ave also learned that although our cultures are very different, music, common sense and a sense of humour cross all boundaries.

Thanks for "tuning in." I do not know how accessible Internet will be in the smaller (7000 person) town of Swedro. And, with absolutely no effrontery intended, it's very nice not being on the computer. That said, I will make a strong effort to send an update within the next two weeks.

Byebye!